Last week, I finally bought something I've been lusting over for months now ... a subscription to HGTV magazine. I have a feeling B and his dad are going to have a bunch more projects added to the list for this summer. Anyway, I had been watching subscription rates for a while, and when they dropped to $15 for a year's subscription, I knew it was the perfect timing.
What I didn't realize when I purchased the subscription was that it was for print only. Martha Stewart tricked me. With my Martha Stewart Living magazine subscription, a digital copy of every issue from the subscription was available - at the time, I didn't have my iPad and I couldn't get it on my Kindle Fire, so I never used it. When I finally bought the HGTV subscription - post iPad purchase - I was really looking forward to my free digital copy, only to be let down when I realized that I would have to pay a couple dollars an issue for the digital version. I did a little research, and found out that if I want to, I could switch my subscription to digital only, and now I can't decide. If I keep the print subscription, I'll be able to tear out pages I like and share my magazines with my mother-in-law (she was pretty pumped when I said I ordered the magazines - she's a huge HGTV fan). If I go with the digital subscription, I'll get the issue sooner, I won't be contributing to the death of trees, but I also won't be able to share, plus I think I'd kind of miss the feeling of the glossy magazine paper. I hate making decisions. First world problems.
This debate that I'm having with myself very closely reflects a conversation that B and his friend had during one of the earlier episodes of their podcast regarding their preference between print or digital content, specifically discussing movies, comic books, and video games. The general consensus was that digital copies are convenient, publishers of different forms of content are creating the digital files anyway, so people should have the option to buy premium packages for a couple extra dollars to have access to both (like most film companies offer Blu-Rays with Ultraviolet codes or just the Blu-Ray disk for a slightly discounted rate. The same should be offered for books, magazine subscriptions, etc.) I'm definitely the type of person who prefers to buy the physical copy of a book - there's something about a bookshelf full of things I've read and enjoyed that makes me happy. On the other hand, I also love the convenience of having content available on my iPad or phone rather than carting around a heavy book (my purses are stuffed full as it is).
I feel kind of awkward asking questions because this blog gets so little traffic, but what the hell ... where do you - my few but dear readers - fall on the digital vs physical copy spectrum?
Showing posts with label Home Improvements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Improvements. Show all posts
20 May 2013
28 September 2012
The Itch
I’m getting it again. The itch to give part of our house a facelift. Unfortunately I’m probably not going to be able to follow through for a while because we don’t have any money to put toward house projects (thanks, stupid medical bill). B isn’t going to be happy that I’m wanting to do this either. He hates house projects - he’s just not a handy DIY type of guy, so he probably won’t be too involved in the process when I finally get around to it. And that’s okay with me, I’m more than prepared to do this mostly on my own once we have the budget to do so.
My desire to update another room never really goes away, but it became a stronger, nagging need within the past month or so. Recently, my break between work shifts has been spent obsessively looking at home decor pins on Pinterest and watching HGTV (specifically Love It or List It, Property Brothers, and Income Property. Those are my top 3 favorites). All of the beautiful inspiration made me realize how ugly different parts of our house are (sorry house), and it sparked some ideas in my mind.
There are 2 rooms that I’d really love to tackle that I think could be done on a minimal budget and wouldn’t call for a lot of physically demanding work (I hope) - the laundry room and the front entryway. These rooms are in decent condition, but they’re so unattractive - wood panels in both rooms - including the ceiling of the front entryway. Yuck.
When I finally get permission from the Mister to update these rooms, they’ll both go through similar updates. Due to budgetary restrictions (aka we’re cheap and broke), the wood paneling will have to stay. It’s kind of crappy, but that’s more of a phase 2 update that will happen wayyyyy down the road. To make it look less gross, the plan is to prime both rooms with a high quality stain blocking primer (I’m researching what would be the best option), and then both rooms will be covered with a pretty color. In the laundry room, I’m thinking a nice pale blue to give it a light, clean, airy feeling. Choosing a color for the front entry is a little more difficult - it has to go with the ugly brown and orange-y floors (hopefully those will also be part of phase 2) and transition well into our brown/tan living room, but because the room currently wood and there’s wood paneling on the ceiling, I’m not really feeling more brown. I’d love to throw in a light, fun color, but it needs to “go” with the style and feel of the rest of the house. Paint colors are tricky. Both rooms will get some nice DIY’ed art treatments and will be de-cluttered, and that’s pretty much the bulk of the work I’ll be able to do on my own.
There are a few projects that I’d like to convince my father-in-law to build for the 2 rooms (I’d try to help at least). In the laundry room, I’d like to find room for a laundry basket dresser (like the one shown here) and possibly even a litter box hider (like this one). The front entry needs a bench with storage underneath for shoes. I feel like all three of these projects should be fairly easy for B’s dad to build, but they’re the lowest priorities on my list, so they’ll be more likely to be a part of phase 2.
I really hope that we can get around to doing the easy, minor updates soon - I’m ready for some change.
My desire to update another room never really goes away, but it became a stronger, nagging need within the past month or so. Recently, my break between work shifts has been spent obsessively looking at home decor pins on Pinterest and watching HGTV (specifically Love It or List It, Property Brothers, and Income Property. Those are my top 3 favorites). All of the beautiful inspiration made me realize how ugly different parts of our house are (sorry house), and it sparked some ideas in my mind.
There are 2 rooms that I’d really love to tackle that I think could be done on a minimal budget and wouldn’t call for a lot of physically demanding work (I hope) - the laundry room and the front entryway. These rooms are in decent condition, but they’re so unattractive - wood panels in both rooms - including the ceiling of the front entryway. Yuck.
When I finally get permission from the Mister to update these rooms, they’ll both go through similar updates. Due to budgetary restrictions (aka we’re cheap and broke), the wood paneling will have to stay. It’s kind of crappy, but that’s more of a phase 2 update that will happen wayyyyy down the road. To make it look less gross, the plan is to prime both rooms with a high quality stain blocking primer (I’m researching what would be the best option), and then both rooms will be covered with a pretty color. In the laundry room, I’m thinking a nice pale blue to give it a light, clean, airy feeling. Choosing a color for the front entry is a little more difficult - it has to go with the ugly brown and orange-y floors (hopefully those will also be part of phase 2) and transition well into our brown/tan living room, but because the room currently wood and there’s wood paneling on the ceiling, I’m not really feeling more brown. I’d love to throw in a light, fun color, but it needs to “go” with the style and feel of the rest of the house. Paint colors are tricky. Both rooms will get some nice DIY’ed art treatments and will be de-cluttered, and that’s pretty much the bulk of the work I’ll be able to do on my own.
There are a few projects that I’d like to convince my father-in-law to build for the 2 rooms (I’d try to help at least). In the laundry room, I’d like to find room for a laundry basket dresser (like the one shown here) and possibly even a litter box hider (like this one). The front entry needs a bench with storage underneath for shoes. I feel like all three of these projects should be fairly easy for B’s dad to build, but they’re the lowest priorities on my list, so they’ll be more likely to be a part of phase 2.
I really hope that we can get around to doing the easy, minor updates soon - I’m ready for some change.
14 November 2011
Guest Room Facelift
This weekend was pretty monumental for our household. Let me set the scene:
Hubs and I are in one of the spare bedrooms (Hubs is changing his clothes, I’m bothering him, as per usual)
Me: Hey B, why don’t you try pulling on that Packer border to see how easily it comes down?
Hubs: Okay.
Me: NO NO NO I was just kidding. If you pulled it we’d have to do the whole room.
Hubs: Okay (yank)
And so our next project began. We removed the ugly and falling down Packer border and the equally ugly white with green stripes wallpaper. By we removed, I mean we both started it, then we went to Menards to get supplies (after making a detour and getting dinner and picking up B’s dad), and then I rocked out to some jams and finished removing the rest of the wallpaper while Hubs watched “Breaking Bad” and hockey. On Sunday, B’s dad came over and fixed up some of the cracks in the plaster with some mud, and that ended day 2. He also loaned me his sanding attachment for the shop vac so I can sand the mudded areas and not have to deal with all of the dust. I wanted to work on it today but I couldn’t figure out how to attach the sander to the vac - turns out you have to put another attachment on first. Duh. So now the plan is to sand everything tomorrow so that we’ll know if there are any areas that need more mud, and hopefullywe’ll I’ll be priming and painting by this weekend.
At this point, you may be wondering - what color did we choose for this room? I’m going with a light-medium gray. I think it will look really clean and modern, and will be a great backdrop for some awesome punches of color. Specifically, buttery yellow and aqua. Oh, and this room? It’s the future nursery. I’m pretty excited to have this started. We’re still working on the baby-making, but the room is going to be an awesome guest bedroom until the time comes.
For comparison’s sake, here’s a couple of before pictures. Enjoy!
The ugly wallpaper and border
A [blurry] picture of another corner (you can see the plain white wall behind the dresser) - and a sneak peek at the beautiful rocking chair and the dresser that will be returning to the room in the future.
Hubs and I are in one of the spare bedrooms (Hubs is changing his clothes, I’m bothering him, as per usual)
Me: Hey B, why don’t you try pulling on that Packer border to see how easily it comes down?
Hubs: Okay.
Me: NO NO NO I was just kidding. If you pulled it we’d have to do the whole room.
Hubs: Okay (yank)
And so our next project began. We removed the ugly and falling down Packer border and the equally ugly white with green stripes wallpaper. By we removed, I mean we both started it, then we went to Menards to get supplies (after making a detour and getting dinner and picking up B’s dad), and then I rocked out to some jams and finished removing the rest of the wallpaper while Hubs watched “Breaking Bad” and hockey. On Sunday, B’s dad came over and fixed up some of the cracks in the plaster with some mud, and that ended day 2. He also loaned me his sanding attachment for the shop vac so I can sand the mudded areas and not have to deal with all of the dust. I wanted to work on it today but I couldn’t figure out how to attach the sander to the vac - turns out you have to put another attachment on first. Duh. So now the plan is to sand everything tomorrow so that we’ll know if there are any areas that need more mud, and hopefully
At this point, you may be wondering - what color did we choose for this room? I’m going with a light-medium gray. I think it will look really clean and modern, and will be a great backdrop for some awesome punches of color. Specifically, buttery yellow and aqua. Oh, and this room? It’s the future nursery. I’m pretty excited to have this started. We’re still working on the baby-making, but the room is going to be an awesome guest bedroom until the time comes.
For comparison’s sake, here’s a couple of before pictures. Enjoy!
The ugly wallpaper and border
A [blurry] picture of another corner (you can see the plain white wall behind the dresser) - and a sneak peek at the beautiful rocking chair and the dresser that will be returning to the room in the future.
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